Excerpted from this web page for my personal reference. Please link only to the original page.

Far from extolling the virtues of slavery, the Bible denounces slavery as sin. The New Testament goes so far as to put slave traders in the same category as murderers, adulterers, perverts, and liars (1 Timothy 1:10).

Slavery within the Old Testament context was sanctioned due to economic realities rather than racial or sexual prejudices. People would voluntarily sell themselves into slavery to discharge a debt or make restitution for a crime. (Exodus 22:3)

While the Bible as a whole recognizes the reality of slavery, it never promotes the practice of slavery. In fact, it was the application of biblical principles that ultimately led to the overthrow of slavery, both in ancient Israel and in the United States of America. Israel’s liberation from slavery in Egypt became the model for the liberation of slaves in general. The Bible and Christianity hold that all people are created by God with innate equality (Genesis 1:27; Acts 17:26–28; Galatians 3:28).